ENERGY DRINKS PAGE 3
PINK HOUSE PAGE 6
EQUIPMENT PAGE 10
StAR WARS PAGE 11
VOICE
THE
ISSUE 4
D E C E M B E R 2 0 1 7
VOLUME 4
OCEANS AWAY, BUT CLOSE TO HER HEART EXCHANGE STUDENT’S HOMETOWN DECLARING INDEPENDENCE By Ruthie Issacson COPY EDITOR
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our thousand seven hundred and ninety miles away. Across the entirety of the North Atlantic Pacific Ocean, foreign exchange student Elena Rubio Abah’s hometown abides. There resides her family, friends and the sole “vida” she has ever known. Abandoning all familiarity and giving in to the urge of wanderlust, Rubio ventured 4,790 miles from her ordinary surroundings, to the town of Gretna, Nebraska. Although not there now, Rubio’s true dwelling is in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. Recently, her hometown has undergone trials that are unique and diverse from the tribulations often witnessed in the United States. “Barcelona was in Catalonia, an autonomy (self-ruling country) inside of Spain,” Rubio said. “Over the last seven years we have been economically unstable and the government has been giving more economic help to other autonomies even though Catalonia has been giving a lot of profit to the government. So Catalans wanted the money to be spent and used in Catalonia.” Catalonia began to establish its own identity beginning in the late 19th century. Creating a new language, customs, architecture and much more, Catalonia’s independence surfaced through their one-of-a-kind culture. The city organized a referendum, or vote for independence. This rapidly escalated tensions between the Spanish government and Catalonia. “I wasn’t worried at all when, in June, the referendum was set up,” Rubio said. “But with time, the tension was massive. In September, people were crazy about it and the Spanish
government commanded 3/4 of the Spain police to go to Catalonia. Spain, knowing that they are going to lose a hugely powerful and economic autonomy want to force the people to not to vote.” On a Sunday in early October, the illegal referendum was scheduled to take place. Police interference slowed the voting, but it did not cease altogether. The autonomy, longing for freedom, pushed on. While intervention from Spain policemen persisted, including snatching ballots, closing voting centers, and ensuing violence, the Catalans found ways to overcome each obstacle set in their way of freedom. Dozens of schools were used as polling centers, and, because of threats from the police, teenagers spent the night inside the schools. “My sister herself and people in our high school were sleeping in the schools because then the police couldn’t close them,” Rubio said. “Even in some of them, the people broke the door so the police couldn’t enter.” Over 900 citizens were injured because of the violence that broke out between Spanish police and Catalans. This hostility, foretold through many years of tension, may be just the tip of the iceberg, as both feuding sides are fueled by passion and fury. “My grandparents were born near the center of Spain, and they didn’t leave home the day of the election because they were scared of the Spanish police,” Rubio said. “This broke my heart...my grandparents were never pro-independent, but they thought that the government was acting poorly and treating them very unfairly.” Regardless of the disincentives conducted by the Spanish police, according to BBC News, over forty percent of Catalans voted. The ballot contained a single, simplistic question: “Do you want Catalonia to become an independent state
in the form of a republic?” Ninety percent of voters answered yes. “In a democracy, you could not take away the right to vote for your citizens,” Rubio said. “The worst part is that the European Union did nothing to prevent the police to hit and beat up people just because they wanted to vote peacefully. The Catalan police couldn’t care less about the Spanish commands and decided to protect the citizens and electoral schools peacefully creating a human barrier.” Although the magnitude of declaring independence may be incomprehensible for students at GHS, families such as Rubio’s will be drastically affected. One of the effects reaching across oceans involves the players of the two prominent rival soccer teams in Spain. “Essentially, people that are from Barcelona, that are playing on Madrid’s team, because there’s gonna be so much animosity between splitting into two countries...it’s going to cost some of those players their jobs,” Spanish instructor Mrs. Shea Granger said. “Because if they are from one country but playing for the other one….. it’s gonna split things up. Once they split it’s going to be a lot of hard feelings between what becomes Barcelona and what stays Spain.” If Catalonia is successful in becoming independent, many questions beg answers, including “What currency will the independent country hold?” Using a different currency then Spain’s mainstream currency may prove to be more burdensome than an improvement. This is similar to California seceding from the United States. This drawback would create a hassle when the money is mixed in with out of state currency just as it may in Spain and Catalonia. “The people only want a change, but the same political party has been running the country for way too many years,” Rubio said.
Fighting for Freedom Advocates for Catalan independence march for freedom. On December 25, the Catalans will be voting for new government leaders. Many in electing positions are previous leaders who lost their jobs because of Catalonia declaring independence. photo by Jem Fade: Dead Aim Images
The Movement Catalans hold up flags and posters, sharing their goal for independence. The Catalans began to create their own identity from their culture. Without Catalonia, Spain’s economy will suffer. photo by Jem Fade: Dead Aim Images
Unwanted Voters Police create a barricade to scare Catalans from placing ballots. Police ripped ballots, closed voting stations and much more to end the idea of independence.
photo by Jem Fade: Dead Aim Images
LANE ADDED TO 204TH RESIDENTS ARE OUT OF LUCK By Emily Acker SPORTS EDITOR
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ccording to gretnane.org, the city of Gretna is one of the fastest growing cities in Nebraska. A significant amount of this growth has happened along 204th Street. To manage this increase in traffic, the city of Gretna hired Olmsted and Perry Consulting Engineers Inc. to expand this street. Although overall, this will be a positive change, it may be an inconvenience for residents living on 204th street. “We have been told the preliminary plan is to park on Devonshire Drive as 204th Street will be blocked off, and we will not have access to our driveway for approximately 1-2 months,” 204th Street resident Mrs. Judy Essink said. “We will have to cross neighboring yards to get to ours. This could be cumbersome carrying groceries and other items, especially if the weather is poor.” The project is scheduled to begin in May 2018. It will be done in three phases. First is Glenmore Drive to East Westplains Road. This should take about a month. Next will be East Westplains Road to Angus Street. This will be from July through August. Finally, they will work on Angus Street to Covington Boulevard which will take another month. On top of the inconvenience of the construction, safety is a concern for these
residents. Many people driving down 204th Street exceed the speed limit and there is little to prevent this. “Our greatest safety concern is the speed on the new roadway as it becomes three lanes,” Mrs. Essink said. “There are a number of front yards that will border this roadway with children playing and homeowners caring for their lawns. We are hoping the city comes up with a plan to deter speeding as this becomes a larger road. Additionally, the plan does not include additional stop signs or stop lights, especially where crosswalks will be placed and turning lanes added. Drivers and pedestrians will need to be more vigilant to the movement of traffic at all the intersections of 204th, as well as, the driveways opening to 204th Street.” Widening the road will help to ease the future increase in traffic. Even though this will be a positive change, it is unfortunate for the people living on 204th Street. “I challenge the city to be proactive in regard to managing speed on the road,” Mrs. Essink said. “I’m hoping they will not settle for status quo, rather set a higher standard and be innovative. I have observed other parts of Omaha with similar roadways incorporate speed bumps, roundabouts, or increase stop signs to control the speed. The inclusion of the above measures will still allow this road to be a direct road going North and South. It’s up to the city planners to decide how safe they would like it to be.”
Road Construction In May of 2018, construction on 204th street will begin. The widening of this road will cost the city of Gretna $2.5 million dollars. It is planned to take about three months to complete. submitted photo